Maybe there was something kismet about Sky Ferreira ending up on the soundtrack for a movie directed by Halina Reijn. Not just because that movie is all about masochism (which also happens to be the title of Ferreira’s long-teased sophomore album), but because it marks the second full-on collaboration between Reijn and A24 (although Reijn’s first movie, Instinct, was distributed by the latter in the U.S., it was September Film Distribution who had dibs in the Netherlands). And both “entities” seem to be all about a disaffected, nonchalant party girl. At least musically speaking. For it was their first “partnership,” Bodies Bodies Bodies, that led to Charli XCX contributing a song called “Hot Girl” (long before she blew up in a hyper-mainstream way two years later with Brat).
It also happens to be no secret that Charli is a self-proclaimed “stan” of Ferreira’s (further cemented after working with her on 2019’s “Cross You Out” from Charli). Indeed, she said as much by writing on the platform that shan’t be named, “i was already so excited for babygirl but now we get babygirl + a new song from sky: omg. stan mode activated.” So yes, there is a certain intertwined connection between XCX and Ferreira in general, and now, when it comes to being “Reijn/A24 soundtrack girls.” In fact, it was Reijn who reached out personally to Ferreira to ask if she would contribute a song—one that would turn out to be for the ending credits. Which, as any cinephile knows, is always where the most important song is placed. The song that speaks to the entire theme of the movie.
So naturally, Ferreira ended up calling the track “Leash.” Which is more than slightly ironic considering that this is her first independent release since finally getting dropped by Capitol Records. She is, thus, “off the leash” for the first time in a decade. And with this single, she’s continuing to establish herself as a “grunge-esque” artist, steering away from the more overtly pop suffused sound that the label wanted her to stay with. And yet, despite the early 90s, My Bloody Valentine feel of this song, Ferreira still manages to sustain her simultaneously overarching “80s aura” (as though Siouxsie Sioux is always within her). Funnily enough, for as sweeping and grand as the song sounds, Ferreira stated that she was working against a major time crunch (two weeks) to complete it. And a self-described “perfectionist” like her doesn’t do well with such pressure-inducing constraints (no BDSM pun intended). But perhaps having a bit of help on the writing and production front was the key, for Ferreira co-produced the song with Jorge Elbrecht (who also co-wrote) and Evan Voytas.
In contrast to her last major single release, “Don’t Forget,” Ferreira comes across as less ardent and emphatic here, more blasé when she recites lyrics like, “Leashed up and lucid/As you fall apart on me/Spray of stars and bruises” or “Sense it in the dark/I let you wear me like a scar.” At a certain point, many of the lyrics also feel like a dead giveaway of how the plot is going to end, particularly when she sings, “I tore apart this veil of shame/I fought so hard just to be erased/Wanna be caught/Go down in flames/I know I’ll never get my way.” In other words, it doesn’t sound like things are going to turn out very favorably for the “babygirl” in question, Romy (Nicole Kidman). But then, they scarcely ever do for an older woman who falls for the charms (/body) of a younger man. In this case, that younger man is Samuel (Harris Dickinson)…who prompts Ferreira to say, from the perspective of Romy, “Surrender to the master/In the end, nothing matters.”
And yes, Ferreira ought to have some strong insight into Romy’s viewpoint after watching the movie three times and writing the lyrics based around the narrative, with one scene in particular always standing out to her: Samuel and a scene with a dog. As she told Vogue (in a very spoiler-y) way, “I also just kept thinking about that final shot of the dog in the hotel room with Harris. That’s an image I kept coming back to as I was coming up with the track. It’s a fantasy that she keeps having despite getting her entire life back in order, so how is the movie really over if she’s still fixated on this relationship?”
Who knows how innocent (or not) this “fantasy” might be, but, whether saintly or sinister, the word and image “leash” was the takeaway. Which also brings it all back to a certain music video inspiration Ferreira brought up in one of her latest batch of interviews about the song. Specifically, when asked by The Face what her favorite music video is, in addition to citing Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” (no surprise), Britney Spears’ “Everytime” and anything Chris Cunningham does, Ferreira also said, “David Fincher’s Madonna videos” (side note: Cunningham also directed “Frozen”). And among the most famous and iconic of those is 1989’s “Express Yourself,” which takes its visual inspiration from Metropolis.
However, more than the homage to film history, what really stuck out to people then (as now) was Madonna wearing a, let’s say, “chain leash” (and nothing else) around her neck while lying on her stomach on a giant bed and, elsewhere, lapping a bowl of milk up like the black cat she often strokes throughout the video (and yes, milk is also a big thing in Babygirl). The nod to Madonna’s chained-up leash “aesthetic” in this video seems complete when Ferreira mentions chains via the line, “Chains are heavy, pull me close to you.” Which is exactly what one of the muscular workers who enters her bedroom to return her “pussy” does: pulls her close.
And no, it wouldn’t be out of the question that Madonna was on the brain while writing a kinky song like this, what with Ferreira telling Vogue of auditioning to play the lead in M’s forthcoming self-directed biopic, “I spent two months working on it, between the auditions and dance rehearsals. I don’t usually get starstruck, but it was just so surreal to be with Madonna at her house. I sat in one of her guest rooms to read the script, then she took me downstairs into her bedroom and did my makeup and put her clothes on me.”
On that note, while “Erotica” (or even “She’s Not Me”) might have been a good fit on the Babygirl Soundtrack, one would be remiss if they didn’t bring up the fact that the aforementioned Charli XCX already has a song called “Babygirl” (from Number 1 Angel). What could be more tailor-made than that? And the lyrics are sensually apropos: “Just close your eyes and lay back/Think about us, we could burn up the second we fuck/Yeah, let your mind just relax/We could play rough, make your blood rush, velveteen brush/I’ll be your baby girl, your baby girl…/…More than a fantasy/Let me be your baby girl.”
Sure, it’s from the perspective of a pinup poster, but it still works seamlessly. Which is why a reworked version of it with Ferreira (taking over the Uffie role) would have worked, too. But no, this is Ferreira’s moment to shine all on her own in the A24/Halina Reijn movie soundtrack realm.
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